Horizontal tank-type vacuum cleaner having soft covering



5. E. NILSSON June 23, 1970 1 HORIZONTAL TANK-TYPE VACUUM CLEANER HAVINGSOFT COVERING Filed NOV. 14, 1966 IN VEN TOR IQ mA ULJ-W United StatesPatent Olhce 3,516,110 Patented June 23, 1970 3,516,110 HORIZONTALTANK-TYPE VACUUM CLEANER HAVING SOFT COVERING Bengt Erik Nilsson,Hagersten, Sweden, assignor to Aktieholaget Electrolux, Stockholm,Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 594,128Claims priority, application Sweden, Nov. 18, 1965, 14,919/65 Int. Cl.A47l /00 US. Cl. 15-325 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In horizontaltank-type vacuum cleaners, a dust collecting member and motor-fan unitare disposed within a casing through which air is circulated. The casinusually is formed of metal or rigid plastic having a hard outwardsurface which may be damaged and also may injure or damage furniture orwalls with which it accidentally comes in contact during use. Toeffectively reduce such injury and damage, the hard outward surface ofthe casing is provided with a soft covering formed of material thatyields and moves inward responsive to physical force applied to itsoutward surface. The soft covering, which may be formed of elastomericmaterial, includes an inner portion and an outer portion, the innerportion being softer than the outer portion and recessed to enhance itssoftness.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention animprovement is provided for effectively reducing the likelihood ofdamaging the hard outward surface of a horizontal tank-type vacuumcleaner and also for effectively reducing the likelihood of damaging andinjuring walls or furniture with which the vacuum cleaner accidentallycomes in contact during use. This is accomplished by providing for thehard outward surface of the casing of the vacuum cleaner 2. softcovering having an inner portion and an outer portion, the inner portionbeing softer than the outer portion. Further, the inner and outerportions of the soft covering are formed of elastomeric material. Theinner portion of the soft covering may be recessed to enhance itssoftness. This may be accomplished by providing at the inner portion ofthe soft covering spaced partitions which may intersect one another andbear against the outward surface of the casing and have gapstherebetween which define recesses. Also, the inner portion of the softcovering may be provided with a plurality of elements or projectionswhich are normal to the outer portion of the covering and spaced fromone another and have their outer free ends bearing against the outwardsurface of the casing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING In the drawing,FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a householdvacuum cleaner embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the vacuum cleanershown in FIG. 1 to illustrate details more clearly;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken at line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 are sectional views similar to FIG. 3 illustratingmodifications of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing, the invention is shownapplied to a horizontal tank-type vacuum cleaner 9 comprising anopen-ended casing 10 and front and rear end covers 11 and 12,respectively, which are removably secured to the casing 10 in anysuitable manner. The casing 10 includes a top wall 10b, bottom wall andspaced vertically extending side walls 10d therebetween, one of which isshown in FIG. 1. The top 10b and side walls 10d define an invertedU-shaped component of the cleaner. The top wall 10b of the casing 10 isprovided with a handle 14 and suitable runners 15 to facilitate movementthereof on a supporting surface. The part of the casing 10 at thevicinity of the front end cover 11 is adapted to receive a dustcollecting member 16. During operation of the vacuum cleaner, air isdrawn into the interior of the casing 10 through an air inlet 17 in thefront end cover 11 by a motor-fan unit 18 supported within the casingadjacent to the dust collecting member 16. Dust and dirt entrained inair during a cleaning operation collect in the dust collecting member16, and air free of such dust and dirt passes through the member 16 andflows through the casing and is eventually discharged by the motor-fanunit 18 through an air outlet 19 in the rear hood 12.

The casing 10, which is formed of sheet metal provides a support for themotor-fan unit 18 and other parts, such as the dust collecting member16, front end cover 11, and rear hood 12, for example, which are housedwithin the casing or detachably connected thereto. The casing 10 has ahard outer surface 10a which may be damaged and also may injure anddamage furniture and walls with which it accidentally comes in contactduring manipulation of the vacuum cleaner during a cleaning operation.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided for the hard outersurface 10a of the casing 10 an elastomeric covering 20 which is formedof compressible material that yields and moves inward responsive tophysical force applied to its outer surface. In the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the covering 20, which desirably may beformed of elastomeric material like rubber or plastic, for example,includes an inner portion 20a bearing against the outer surface 10a ofthe casing 10 and an outer portion 20b. The covering 20 desirably isformed in such manner that its inner portion 20a is more resilient thanits outer portion 20b. By providing a covering 20 of this kind, theouter portion 20b thereof, although resilient in character, is lessresilient than the inner portion 20a thereof and provides an exteriorsurface which possesses to a small degree some of the physicalcharacteristics of a conventional vacuum cleaner having a hard outersurface. At the same time the inner portion 20a of the covering 20,which is soft to a higher degree than the outer portion 20b thereof,yields and readily moves inward responsive to physical force applied tothe outer surface of the covering 20 when the vacuum cleaneraccidentally is moved against furniture and walls during a cleaningoperation.

In the embodiment being described and illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, theouter portion of the covering 20b of the covering 20 is imperforate andprovides a layer of material overlying the hard outer surface 10a of thecasing 10. The exterior surface 20b of the outer portion 20b may besmooth or formed to provide a decorative surface which is pleasing inappearance. As seen in FIG. 2, the exterior surface 20b may be formedwith a plurality of raised portions 20b adjacent to one another.

In order to provide the inner portion 20a which is softer than the outerportion 20b, the inner portion 20a may be recessed by providing a numberof intersecting partitions 20c which are spaced from and perpendicularto one another in checkerboard fashion to provide a plu rality ofcavities or recesses 20d having their open ends closed by the hard outersurface 10a of the casing 10. The partitions 200, which may be referredto as elements, are

3 normal to the outer portion 20b and elongated and essentially coplanarwith. the outer portion and extend inward toward the casing 10 and havetheir outer free ends 20e terminating and bearing against the hard outersurface 10a of the casing 10.

By providing the partitions 200 which readily fiex when the covering 20moves inward responsive to physical force applied thereto, thelikelihood of damaging or injuring floors and walls with which thevacuum cleaner accidentally comes in contact is effectively reduced. Thecovering 20 also possesses the advantage that any surface irregularitiesthat are formed when the vacuum cleaner 10 is fabricated, such as byrivets and welded joints, for example, are effectively taken up by thesoft covering. Further, the soft covering 20 functions to attenuatenoise produced during operation of the motor-fan unit 18. This is due tothe fact that the soft covering is formed of compressible material whichis porous. Also, the cavities in the inner portion 20b thereof, when thecovering is positioned against the hard outer surface 10a of the casing10, form a plurality of closed cells which are disposed about the casing10 and envelope that part of the casing in which the motor-fan unit 18is housed.

FIGS. 4, and 6 illustrate other embodiments of the invention. In FIG. 3the partitions 20c extend in parallel straight lines and areperpendicular to one another. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the horizontalpartitions 20c extend in straight lines parallel to one another and thevertical partitions perpendicular thereto are of zig-zag shape. Hence,the cavities 20d in each horizontal row in FIG. 4 are offset verticallywith respect to the cavities in the horizontal rows adjacent thereto.

In FIG. 5 the partitions 20c" intersect one another in such manner thatthe cavities 20d" are of diamond shape.

,In FIG. 6 the elements 200' are in the form of pins or projectionswhich are spaced from one another and extend inward and bear against theouter surface 10a of the casing. Hence, the modification of FIG. 6 alsoprovides a recessed inner portion 2011" of the soft covering which issofter than the outer portion of the covering.

In each of the embodiments shown and described, the degree of softnessof the inner portion of the covering may be readily determined byvarying the thickness of the partitions and by varying thecross-sectional areas of the pins or projections which, in turn,determines the crosssectional areas of the cavities and the degree ofsoftness of the inner portion of the covering. Instead of providingintersecting partitions or individual elements to form the recessedinner portion of the soft covering, each partition may be elongated andcontinuous in character and sinuous or of serpentine form to provide therecessed inner portion of the soft covering.

What is claimed is:

1. A horizontal tank-type vacuum cleaner comprising (a) an elongatedopen-ended casing formed of sheet metal having a hard outer surface,said casing having a top, bottom and spaced vertically extending sidewalls therebetween, the top and side walls of said casing defining aninverted U-shaped component of the cleaner,

(b) front and rear end covers mounted on said casing at opposite endsthereof and respectively having air inlet and outlet openings,

(c) a motor-fan unit in said casing for moving air therethrough betweenthe air inlet and outlet openmgs,

(d) an elastomeric covering formed of compressible material whichoverlies substantially all regions of saidinverted U-shaped componentand comprises an outer portion of sheet-like form and an inner portionwhich is integral therewith and includes spaced elements which projectfrom said outer portion to the hard outer surface of said casing, theinner extremities of said elements bearing against the hard outersurface of said casing which serves as a backing for said covering,

(e) said outer portion of sheet-like form being less resilient than saidelements of said inner portion and providing an exterior surface whichpossesses at least some of the physical characteristics of aconventional tank-type vacuum cleaner having a hard outer surface,

(f) said elements of said inner portion flexing when said covering movesinward responsive to physical force applied thereto, and

(g) said covering enveloping said motor-fan unit in said casing andfunctioning to attenuate noise produced by said motor-fan unit duringoperation of the cleaner.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,325,903 8/1943 Blair et a1.2,575,554 11/1951 Langille 15325 X 3,026,224 3/1962 Rogers 161116 X3,270,365 9/1966 Waters et a1. -a 15-325 ROBERT F. BURNETT, PrimaryExaminer R. O. LINKER, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

